The Obsession with Discussing the Supposed Rudeness of Atheists

[Pyrrho]

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You might want to rethink that.  What you are saying is, when someone labels himself a theist, you would be wrong to "assume" that the person believes in a god.  Of course, it is not an assumption at that point.  It is just taking the person at his word.  If someone is a stupid moron who does not know how to properly label himself, that is a failing of his, not of the people who initially take him at his word.  I will grant you, however, that there are quite of few complete morons who label themselves inaccurately.  Of course, if they are that stupid, when they directly tell you, "I believe X," you would be equally wrong to suppose that you could count on that being true, since the person clearly has no clue what they are talking about.

I will grant you that certain assumptions can be made depending on the self attributed label.  I'm a theist, so it is safe for you to assume I believe in God, because if I didn't then as you said I would be stupid for labeling myself as a theist.  But if I identify as a theist, you cannot assume what branch of theism I follow.  I identify as Christian.  This gives you more info to glean assumptions from, for example, you can assume I believe in the God of the Bible, that Jesus Christ lived, died and was resurrected.  Nothing really beyond that since there are "Christians" who believe all are/will be saved, that only the elect will be saved, pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, no tribulation, original sin, no original sin, old earth, young earth, creation, evolution, etc.  You could assume, but you might be incorrect.

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I said this in the other thread as well, it's when people get told what they believe by someone else is when they tend to get upset.  

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I always try to ask what someone believes about something I wish to discuss before asking and assuming I know what they believe based on how the identify and label themselves.

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I have found quite a few people who get upset when one takes them at their word and one assumes that they are not clueless morons when they label themselves.  Isn't the whole point of putting a label on oneself to tell others about oneself?  When you say, "I am a Christian," do you not intend to convey some information with that sentence?  Like, that you are a Christian?  Please understand, I am not accusing you of the failing of which I am presently writing.  I do not recall you ever mislabeling yourself.

But with some clueless morons who mislabel themselves, when one assumes that they have labeled themselves accurately, they sometimes get upset and accuse one of telling them what they believe, when the reality is that one merely took them at their word.  They ought not be offended when one pays attention to what they say and takes them at their word, but, being clueless morons, they do not do what they ought to do.

Everyone who says that they are theists, ought not be offended if someone supposes that they believe in a god of some sort.  The same idea applies for every label that people use for themselves.  If you label yourself, you ought not be upset if others accept the label for you.

Often they will bring up the idea that they have the "right" to label themselves anyway they want.  However that may be, it is irrelevant to the fact that if one makes false claims about what one is, one ought not be surprised if others suppose that one is intending the truth.  It is then one's own fault that there is a miscommunication, not the fault of the person who is in that situation being accused of telling the other person what he believes.